Where do you store your powder & ammo

[mugsie]

I reload - a lot. I have numerous jugs of powder and ammo in the basement where I load. I worry about what would happen if I ever had a fire. Most likely the FD wouldn't come near the house if there was a chance of ammo going off, so I was wondering what others do. Do you store it in the basement? In a shed? Outside? What precautions do you take?

Thanks for the input.

 

[ohioshooter]

I have a gun room that has my powder, guns, primers etc.

 

[Sam1911]

Powder just burns. Pretty strongly, but it isn't going to "go off" (i.e.: explode).

I keep mine on shelves above my bench.

-Sam

 

[oneounceload]

My uncle was FDNY for his career - he always stated how their worst nightmare was a garage fire - because they never knew what was in there and most folks kept so many toxic chemicals and flammables. At least at a mfg. plant they know what they're going against. If you're home when your house burns, tell them what to expect; and check your homeowner's insurance to see if there are exclusions regarding flammable solids.

 

[medalguy]

I built a storage cabinet per fire code specs to hold powder, 1 inch thick wood, hinged top designed to blow upwards in the event of a fire, sitting 2 inches off the ground to allow air to circulkate around it, six inches from nearest wall. Primers I keep in their original containers separate from other components. Ammo in metal ammo cans, all labelled with contents.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I worry about what would happen if I ever had a fire.

!n 1995 my shop burned to the ground. It contained about 30,000 rounds of ammo, about a dozen cans of gun powder and thousands of primers, plus a whole bunch of other valuable stuff.

Some ammo did explode with enough force to go through the military steel ammo boxes, the shop's interior and the shop's outer metal walls.

But mostly the only things that "exploded" were such as cans of WD40 and two cans of Black Powder.

It was an interesting day.


Now days because I have more storage space the ammo and reloading components are spread around between the house and a couple outbuildings.

 

[wesessiah]

^ in regards to the ammo going off, as long as the casing isn't up against something solid, the shell will be what gets "fired" since it has so little mass compared to the bullet. so i try to keep my ammo stored in such a way where the shell has room to move instead of held in place so the bullet is what goes. i'm paranoid about everything anyway, so i try to do everything possible to be prepared for anything.

 

[Publius1688]

When I was twelve year's old, we had a housefire. Living the the country, we were loaded for bear wit rifle, shotgun rounds, etc. No rounds went off during the fire, the stuff we heard blowing up was from the garage---aerosol cans and what not.
As for the smokeless powder for reloading, it's just going to burn. Fast and hot, but burn. Ditto any black powder you've got about.

 

[M2 Carbine]

As for the smokeless powder for reloading, it's just going to burn. Fast and hot, but burn. Ditto any black powder you've got about.

Not correct.
Black Powder will explode in the can, either from a fire or by being shot. I have done both.

The two cans on the right exploded. They were Black Powder and there was no doubt when they went off.
The can, top left, was WD40, I'm pretty sure I heard that explode to. The other cans were smokeless powder which just popped the top or bottom of the can, just like it's supposed to.
(note the bullet holes in the center two cans)


A pound can of BP when shot with a .308 makes a very impressive fireball.

 

[RB98SS]

That's good info, I always assumed that there would be a small mushroom cloud over my house if it caught on fire.

 

[wishin]

probably the wrong place, but in a plastic gun stuff box out in the shed.

 

[ghoster]

mine is in my office and walk in attic-- forbiden areas for the kids.
not worried about fire as i am insured and it wont explode per sey.
i do have fireworks stashed all over as to keep the fire boys back, if i have a fire i want it to burn to the ground.
no arguring with insurance about if it is still usable or not.
alot easer and cheaper to clean up and rebuild also.

 

[Schutzen]

I can ditto what M2Carbine said about fires. Our home burned in 1997. In the attached garage I had a pallet with 15 cases of shot shells, a cabinet with approximately 10,000 rounds of center fire ammo and another 4000 of rim fire ammo. I also had a wooden cabinet (not to fire code specs, but better than most) with 10-15 pounds of smokeless powder. A separate cabinet held 2-3000 primers. All of these items burned and the fire department had no idea they were there (I was at work). There were numerous explosions in the rear of the house and the fire department knew I was kept large stores of ammo and powder. They assumed these explosions were my ammunition and stayed clear of the rear of the house. My ammunition was less than 15 feet from where the fire department chose to place their main 2.5" containment line. The explosions were canned goods and cleaning supplies stored in the pantry. Basically, you’re reloading and shooting supplies are less dangerous than your wife's cooking and cleaning supplies.

M2Carbine did bring up one of my pet peeves. We all like to store items in military surplus ammo cans. When you store ammunition or powder in them, you have created a bomb. Modern smokeless powder requires pressure to develop explosive force. When you confine either to a metal ammo can, you create a pressurized atmosphere and the ability for the material to explode. Before anyone flames me, yes the military does store ammunition in these cans. Military ammunition cans were designed to safely transport munitions through extremely rough handling (battered cargo holds and helicopter kick out resupplies). The military is less worried about an ammunition explosion (all ammo explodes when the enemy shells it) than arriving at a fire fight with unusable ammo.

Now another caution for you guys, buy a good fire rated gun safe. I lost 3 guns in our fire. All 3 (HD pistol, .22 rifle & 12 ga shotgun for varmint control) were in the house and were covered by my insurance. The remained of my guns were in a fire rated safe and suffered no damage. That safe was the best $550 I ever spent on gun related equipment.